No Reason But Us

Chapter 57 : Forgive or not?

The next afternoon in the campus garden, Felix had to go early to get to the location where the club had to showcase their short film and assisted in carrying the heavy equipment. Gage watched him from the distance, being happy, still feeling bad about their fight. Even though Felix saw him, he just ignored him.

He spotted Oddey with Rita as they were just talking and minding their own business while waiting for their convoy. Afterward, Oddey happened to glance over to him and just let out a sweet smile at him regardless if he would not respond kindly to it.

Unexpectedly, Gage smiled back at her. The first time since their split, she got a genuine grin from him before going away.

Later, the guy just spent all his day walking around campus, dwelling on what was going on with his life. Out of all places, he decided to go to the auditorium. It was so quiet without the noises of the actors rehearsing or chattering anywhere that you could hear echoes of his own footsteps.

Gage never wanted to be in that club in the first place, though the silence made him feel empty, and it wasn't because there were no people there. He gazed at the backdrop for the balcony scene that Oddey designed and made.

After that, there were boxes full of flowers made of used papers, that he remembered giving her a making them. It was the first time Oddey helped him practice. Her soft voice instructed him that it was okay to make mistakes and instructed him to not act like Romeo and just how he felt.

Every practice with her, it made Gage understand what Romeo truly felt and to express it by acting. The same feeling that he had towards Oddey, his Juliet. However, those were all ruined from a betraying reality that caused him to lose his trust in her, yet why did it still feel wrong?

"Mr. Munro?" He heard a voice called out to him. Startled, the guy immediately turned around and saw that Madame Vestia was there glancing at him with her brow lifted. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhm... I lost my jacket, and I think I left it here," Gage lied. "But... I think it's not here."

"I see..."

"Ahem... what brings you here, Madame Vestia?"

The professor looked up to the set. "No particular reason, I just love admiring the backdrops. Ms. Empirio really has an exquisite eye for visual art. I know I shouldn't have favorites, but she's mine."

Gage gazed over to the backdrops in the stage, "Yeah, I guess she does," he replied dryly.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot. Didn't mean to bring that up."

"No, that's alright. I'm okay."

Madame Vestia had this unconvinced expression in her face. "You don't look okay."

"I... I'm just stressed," the architect student claimed. "Loads of workload ahead after the play."

"Or perhaps conflicted? This has something to do with Ms. Empirio, isn't it?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not to pry, but I did hear it from the grapevine. I just find it very surprising how the events that you and Ms. Empirio are in is similar to the Shakespearean starcrossed lover," the professor expressed.

"Except Juliet didn't lie to Romeo that she's a Capulet. She's the daughter of a man who ruined my Dad's life."

"Have you learned nothing from the play, my boy?" The professor scolded him. "Your love for each other has nothing to do with both of your parents being enemies."

"I get that, but she lied to me. I thought all those times together were real until I found out who she really was." The architect student realized that he rambled his problems to a professor. "Sorry, I didn't mean to unload..."